Artist Michael Rosenblatt, who volunteers for the nonproft, said he wants to color more businesses in southeastern San Diego with art. After seeing the mural at the gathering space make a positive impact, he decided to launch what he’s dubbed #MileofArt, a public project meant to beautify a bigger swath of the area.

“This could be a big part of the neighborhood’s renaissance,” Rosenblatt said. “My dream and passion is to create art where art is needed rather than just putting it in fancy galleries.”

The effort relies on partnerships with local businesses. To accommodate small business owners who either don’t own their buildings or don’t want to commit to a permanent mural, Rosenblatt is offering “mini murals” — paintings on wood panels that are treated with sun and graffiti guards and professionally installed on the outside of businesses by a volunteer at the neighborhood Home Depot.

Rosenblatt said the mini murals are quicker and much cheaper than a large-scale mural. He said he’s actively looking for funding for the project and is busy recruiting businesses in southeastern San Diego that want art on their buildings.

“It’s about turning things around,” he said. “This is just one way of doing that, but it’s a big way. It gets the young people inspired.”

You’re reading the Culture Report, Voice of San Diego’s weekly collection of the region’s cultural news.

The Opera’s New Season, A Celebration at the New Children’s Museum and More Arts and Culture News

• The San Diego Opera’s just-announced 2018-2019 season includes some of the changes expected from a nonprofit that’s been transforming itself ever since its near-death experience in 2014, but also lots of classics. The San Diego Opera’s current production of Puccini’s “Turandot,” by the way, is wowing audiences and critics. (Union-Tribune, KPBS)

San Diego Opera will stage Engelbert Humperdinck’s version of the Grimm fairy tale, “Hansel and Gretel,” in December. / Courtesy of Timothy Matheson, Vancouver Opera

• Voz Alta, a pioneering arts and culture organization in San Diego that’s currently closed, used to host some of the most exciting poetry nights in town. Get a taste of what it was like at a Voz Alta poetry night during this reunion event hosted by Adrian Arancibia, one of the longest standing members of the famed Taco Shop Poets collective. (Vanguard Culture)

• This year, the New Children’s Museum is celebrating its 35th anniversary and its 10th year in its downtown digs. Throughout the year, the museum is inviting back some of the memorable contemporary artists who’ve worked with NCM over the past 10 years. The latest is Brian Dick, a multimedia artist best known for his whimsical work.

• On Saturday, San Diego author Amy Wallen will talk with CityBeat book columnist Jim Ruland about her new memoir, “When We Were Ghouls: A Memoir of Ghost Stories.”

• Artist Francis Upritchard is in residence at the Lux Art Institute in Encinitas. Her multimedia work relies on unexpected materials and explores topics such as what humans thought dinosaurs looked like when the first bones were discovered. (Union-Tribune)

• The city has begun its search for a new executive director of the Commission for Arts and Culture. That job is one of four vacant positions at the commission right now. To be operating at full capacity, the city needs to hire two public art program administrators and an executive secretary.